Who Are We?

Our Congregation
We are a multi-generational, United Methodist congregation located just outside of St. Johns, Michigan. We average around 230 people a week in our worship services. Pilgrim has a strong heart for missions, supporting numerous missionaries overseas, as well as mission initiatives in our country and in St. Johns. Every month we collect a noisy offering in worship (usually the 2nd Sunday of the month) that is given to a different mission. Along with our financial giving, Pilgrim typically sends a team on a short term mission trip about every other year. We believe that the gospel of Jesus Christ calls us to minister to our hurting world.

Our roots are in two smaller country churches, Bengal and Bingham, which were both Evangelical United Brethren. On January 1, 1968, after a time of prayer and spiritual revival, the two churches decided to join together and become one. The churches chose the name, “Pilgrim Church.” Just six months later, the Evangelical United Brethren and the Methodist Episcopal denominations merged, and merged, which meant that Pilgrim was now a United Methodist Church. Several years later, Pilgrim UMC partnered with Price United Methodist, another small country church in the area, and merged to become one. The result is a healthy congregation, that is still rooted in some of the values of a neighborhood church.